Review by Barbara Ellen Sorensen In her haunting book, Lock Her Up, Tina Parker switches effortlessly between writing persona poems, concrete poems, and epistolary verses, as well as transforming medical forms based on real-life response into poetic renderings. My…
Browsing: Book Reviews
Review by Carla Panciera I’ve never been to New Mexico, but after reading Bosque, a collection of poetry from Albuquerque’s poet laureate, Michelle Otero, the landscape rises before me: coyote fences, January yucca fronds, lanceleaf sage, salt cedar, mesquite pods.…
Review by Lisa C. Taylor Rarely does a book come along that combines historical, literary, and artistic icons with the ordeals of intimate relationships. Woman Drinking Absinthe deftly chronicles the age-old saga of desire and deceit with unexpected detours. The…
Review by Lisa C. Taylor Occasionally a poetry collection comes along to remind us of the fragility of life and the volatility of relationships. Gloria Mindock’s new book, Ash does just this. With spare language and stark details, the debris…
Review by Lara Lillibridge Daddy is an exploration of relationships and self. By turns heartbreaking and humorous, Montlack’s writing is accessible without being superficial. The 56 poems, most one page long, are arranged into three sections: Daddy, Mother, and Father,…
Review by Sarah W. Bartlett Diane Elayne Dees is a political and sports blogger who has published creative nonfiction, political essays and short fiction in many journals and anthologies. In addition to “Coronary Truth,” she has two forthcoming chapbooks: “I…
Review by Emily Webber Karin Cecile Davidson’s debut, Sybelia Drive, turns to a small town in Florida during the Vietnam war, presenting many alternating viewpoints throughout the novel. Davidson’s focus is on family relationships and the far-reaching impact of…
Review by Celia Jeffries It’s always a pleasure when a poet turns to prose—language is bound to surprise and sparkle when a such a writer distills thoughts onto the page—and that is exactly what happens in Elaine Terranova’s memoir…
Review by Michele Sharpe Cleave is a poetry collection of magnitude and fascination, spanning continents, history, and personal obsessions. I started reading it one evening after dinner and stayed up late with it, still reading. As poet Gabrielle Calvocoressi notes…
Review by Alison Meyers Fiercely lyrical is the phrase that comes to mind when I consider the whole of Kathy Engel’s The Lost Brother Alphabet, a multi-layered poetry collection as elegiac and intimate as it is politically urgent, as temporal…